A helicopter crashed on Friday, July 19, 2024, at Jalan Pura Kulat Gang Tunjung Suluban, Pecatu Village, Badung, Bali. The helicopter was carrying 4 tourist passengers and 1 pilot on an aerial tour.
The helicopter crashed shortly after taking off from the helipad. Apparently, the helicopter crashed after 4 minutes in the air.
The helicopter took off from the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Helipad at around 2:33 p.m. and crashed at 2:37 p.m.
The findings of kite yarn on the propeller suggest that the helicopter crashed because it was wrapped around the yarn. However, the authorities have still not been able to confirm the cause yet of the incident.
As reported from Kompas, several witnesses from local residents saw the helicopter flying low over their houses before crashing on the new road access. Banjar Suluban hamlet chief I Wayan Suartana said several kite threads were found on the helicopter wreckage. The incident has left the local community in shock and they are now more aware of the potential dangers of kite flying near the airport.
Captain Dedi Kurnia, an Indonesian citizen, flew the helicopter. The singular tourist passengers were Russel James Harris, Eldira Decti Paskila, and Marrot Castella, and the Indonesian tourist passenger was Oktraman Mendrosa.
Local Government Prohibits Raising Kites
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The Bali Provincial Government (Pemprov) responded to the crash of a tourist heli owned by PT Whitesky Aviation.
The helicopter, which had five passengers, including the pilot, crashed because the propeller was wrapped around a kite thread. Bali Provincial Secretary Dewa Made Indra said Bali Provincial Regulation Number 9 of 2000 regulates the prohibition of raising kites and similar games at Ngurah Rai Airport and its surroundings.
“The regulation states the prohibition to raise kites around the airport within a predetermined radius,” Dewa Indra said, as reported by Detik.
Flying kites is prohibited within a radius of 5 nautical miles or 9 kilometers from the airport. The next article also states that within a radius of 5 nautical miles or 9 kilometers to 10 nautical miles or 18 kilometers, kites with a height exceeding 100 meters or 300 feet should not be raised.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Region IV Airport Authority Office, Agustinus Budi Hartono, stated. The helicopter with flight code PK-WSP has a maximum air permit to reach 1,000 feet or more, 304 meters from the ground.
Agustinus explained that the location of the helicopter crash included a horizontal radius outside the Flight Operation Safety Area (KKOP) of 15 kilometers (km). In fact, Bali Regional Regulation (Perda) Number 9 of 2000 states that the area is included in the no kite flying zone with a radius of less than 18 km from I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport.
Foreign tourists on the helicopter wanted to celebrate a birthday
The helicopter crash incident due to kite rope entanglement, was never imagined to be experienced by Russell Harris. The Australian tourist was one of the passengers when the Bell Jet model 5055 helicopter crashed into a cliff in Pecatu.
At the time, he was celebrating his 46th birthday with his partner and a friend from Perth, Australia. “Maybe three or four minutes before the incident, we saw a kite, a little late,” he told Nine News.
Harris said he was grateful that the pilot was able to regain control of the helicopter after it became entangled in the kite string. He admitted that if the helicopter was still 200-300 meters above the surface, he was not sure he would survive.
“It was scary. It was my first time in a helicopter. Today is my birthday,” he said.
